Overview

• Milorad Dodik, leader of Bosnia's Serb-majority Republika Srpska, was convicted for passing laws that defied rulings by the international high representative and Bosnia's Constitutional Court.
• The court sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and banned him from political office for six years, though an appeal is expected, and he may avoid jail by paying a fine.
• Dodik has rejected the verdict, called it politically motivated, and announced measures to limit Bosnia's central government’s influence in Republika Srpska, including banning state prosecutors and intelligence agents from the region.
• Dodik’s actions and rhetoric, including threats of secession, have heightened ethnic and political tensions in Bosnia, a country still governed under the fragile framework of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords.
• International and local observers warn that Dodik’s defiance could destabilize Bosnia further, with some calling for stronger international intervention to uphold the peace agreement.